The National Youth Agency’s Partnership in Innovation
programme has provided funds for a youth strand of QLP. This is expected to start in towards the
end of the year. Details of QLP and
the Youth strand age given
below:
The Quality
Leaders Project (QLP) for Library and Information Workers is a well-established
approach to combating social exclusion within the library and information
services sector. The QLP approach is one of management development through
service development as it aims to tackle the dual challenges of providing value
for socially excluded communities and also equal employment opportunities, both
within a coherent Best Value framework. Due to recent funding successes, the QLP
Steering Committee is currently engaged in two different QLP initiatives. The
first of these is focussed upon the social exclusion of Black and Minority
Ethnic (BME) communities, while the second (the QLP-Youth programme) is focussed
upon services to young people, with a special emphasis upon refugee and asylum
seekers. The QLP Steering Committee are now looking for two authorities to
participate in the BME strand, which has just started, and a further six
authorities to participate in the Youth strand, which will be starting very
soon.
Aims of the
QLP-Youth Project
- To refocus public library service so that services
to young people are mainstreamed in accordance with the real needs of young
people.
- To provide new skills to
library workers so that they can develop and deliver new and innovative
services needed by young people.
- Develop, plan and implement new services for young
people in partnership with the youth themselves, and with
other stakeholders.
- To increase social cohesion by
encouraging inter-generational work and by encouraging different communities
to work together.
- An innovative model of providing services to young
people in a partnership approach which empowers young
people.
- Staff development: the development of new
skills and expertise by Quality Leaders and
Quality teams from participating authorities.
- Service development/improvement: new services to meet new or unmet
needs of young people, especially from excluded communities and
potential users who may not have been reached by their authorities.
- The development of a QLP Training Manual for use by
other public service providers in the development of new QLP projects.
- Establishing a link between Best Value performance processes and social
exclusion performance targets within the participating organisations and at
the same time meet relevant requirements of the Equality Standards and EU
legislation on equalities.
- A new partnership approach bringing together various
organisations currently working in isolation.
- Young people, especially young refugees and asylum
seekers, in the participating authorities.
- The local communities as a whole because as the
public library develops new services using new approaches to meeting local
needs which have not been met before, it will enhance social
cohesion and enable a significant sector of the
community to be empowered.
- The participating local authorities which will be
able to improve services and also meet many of its legal requirements while
satisfying other criteria such as Best Value, Equalities Standard for Local
Authorities, Annual Library Plan and the Public Library Standard
requirements.
- The library service as a whole as the Project will
act as an engine of change to meet local and national
requirements.
- Personal and professional development for Quality
Leaders (QLs) who will acquire new skills and experiences.
- Development opportunities for the QLP Teams who
come from all communities.
If you are interested in finding out more about the
QLP, or to register your authority’s interest in taking part please
contact:
·
Dr. Dean
Bartlett
Deputy Director
Management Research Centre
London Metropolitan University (North
Campus)
Stapleton House,
227-281, Holloway Road
London N7 8HN.
Tel: 020
7973 4825
E-mail:
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